Avid Tech, Chicago Mercantile, more

MichaelBaron

Advancers

7-Eleven Stores
SE, -0.29%
shares ended Thursday higher by 22.3% after the company said it's appointed a special committee of its board to evaluate a proposed tender offer of $32.50 a share in cash for its remaining outstanding stock from Seven-Eleven Japan Co.

Access Anytime Bancorp
AABC
shares jumped 19.5% after the company agreed to be acquired by First State Bancorp.
FSNM
The deal calls for a swap of 0.791 First State shares for each Access share held.

Avid Technology
AVID, +0.00%
shares gained 13.3% after the company unveiled a number of software applications that it said are optimized for use with Apple Computer's
AAPL, +1.63%
Mac OS X Tiger operating system.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange
CME, +0.37%
shares gained 8.5% after the futures trading exchange reported a 27% jumped in average daily volume in August to 3.7 million contracts.

Chiron
CHIR
surged 17.8% after Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG
NVS, +3.18%
said it's offering $4.5 billion, or $40 a share, for the 57.8% that it doesn't already own in Chiron. Novartis said it recently conducted due diligence on Chiron with the agreement of the company's independent directors. See full story.

Haggar Corp.
HGGR
shares jumped 22.3% after the clothing company agreed to be purchased by investment groups Infinity Associates, Perseus and Symphony Holdings for $212 million, or $29 a share.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
PXD, +0.03%
gained 8.7% after the company said its board approved a program to buy back up to $1 billion in shares. The Dallas company plans to exit deepwater exploration and divest properties in the Gulf of Mexico; sell deepwater properties in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina; reduce its exploration budget to 15%-20% from 30% of capital spending; and reallocate its budget for North American onshore development and drilling. Pioneer also said it's increasing its dividend by 20% to 12 cents a share. See full story.

Skillsoft PLC
SKIL
shares rallied 16.6% after the company said second-quarter net income rose to $22.9 million, or 22 cents a share, from $1.26 million, or 1 cent a share, including a gain of $19.5 million, or 19 cents per share, from the settlement of a 2002 securities class action lawsuit. Analysts at Thomson First Call had expected an adjusted profit of 2 cents a share. Revenue rose to $53.6 million from $50.6 million. The company also raised its 2005 revenue and profit targets. It is now targeting a revenue range of $208 million to $212 million, compared to the previously targeted revenue range of $200 million to $206 million. It also hopes for net income between $30 million and $34 million up from $8 million to $13 million.

Third Wave Technologies
TWTI
shares gained 7.6% after the company said a federal jury has found that Stratagene Corp.
STGN, +1.83%
infringed patents that protect its nucleic acid chemistry. The Madison, Wisc.-based molecular diagnostics company filed the suit in September 2004. It sought a permanent injunction preventing the sale of Stratagene's reagents marketed as "FullVelocity" products, as well as monetary damages. Stratagene shares fell 9%.

Decliners

Aeropostale
ARO, -10.53%
shares ended the session down 5.8% after the company reported August same-store sales rose 1.3%. In the year ago period, Aeropostale reported a 6.2% increase in same-store sales. Total sales for the New York-based apparel retailer came in at $136.5 million for the month, up 21.8% from $112.1 million a year ago.

American Eagle Outfitters
AEOS
shares slumped 10% after the company said Chief Financial Officer Laura Weil is leaving Sept. 9. Weil was named chief operating officer of Ann Taylor Stores Corp.
ANN, +2.12%
American Eagle also said that same-store sales in August rose 11.8%. Total sales rose 18.7% to $236.9 million from $199.6 million.

Bebe Stores
BEBE, -0.83%
shares dropped 23.7% after the company said its same-store sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 27 rose 17%. Total sales at the Brisbane, Calif., company rose to $39.2 million compared with sales of $31 million. Chief Executive Greg Scott said the company is "comfortable" with earnings estimates of 14 to 17 cents for the first quarter of fiscal 2006. "However, business was not as strong during the last week of the month and we now anticipate comparable- store sales to be in the high teens range for the first quarter of fiscal 2006," Scott said.

Continental Airlines
CAL, -0.92%
fell 5.2% as shares of airline companies continued to sell off in the wake of Hurricane Katrina with investors keying on the possible implications of the disruption in the oil supply on the industry. Other hard-hit airlines stocks include included Northwest Airlines
NWAC
which tumbled 21.1%.

Delphi Corp.
DPH, +0.00%
dropped 9.5% as the company and former parent General Motors Corp.
GM, +3.40%
continued to work with their unions to hammer out a bailout deal for Delphi, which has said it would consider filing for bankruptcy if it can't reach an agreement to cut wages and benefits.

Host America Corp.
CAFE, -1.09%
plunged 74% after the company said that, while it believed there was an oral understanding between itself and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
WMT, -0.37%
that Host would begin surveying 10 Wal-Mart stores for the installation of its LightMasterPlus system, there is not, and never has been, a formal, written agreement with the retailer concerning the proposed survey nor is there any agreement for the installation of the light system. The survey was the subject of a July 12 press release that was followed by a significant increase in trading volume in Host's shares and stock price over the next ten days, the company noted. CEO Geoffrey Ramsey has been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the completion of an investigation by a special committee convened by the company. Ramsey has also resigned as chairman of the board. Chief Financial Officer David Murphy has been named acting CEO and president.

Shares of NCI Building Systems
NCS, -10.08%
lost 6.8% after the Houston metal construction products maker reported third-quarter results that missed Wall Street's consensus estimate late Wednesday and lowered its outlook for the full year. The company said it earned $14.7 million, or 70 cents a share, in the July period, 3 cents below the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call. NCI said the performance met its outlook "in an environment that remains challenging." Looking ahead, the company forecast earnings of 93 cents to $1.03 a share for the fourth quarter and a profit of $2.60 to $2.70 a share in fiscal 2005. The Thomson First Call estimates are for profits of $1.21 and $2.91 a share in the respective periods.

New York & Co.
NWY, +0.00%
shares fell 5.2% after the company said August same-sales fell 13.4% due to reduced sales of summer product, the movement of its City Cash promotion into September and disappointing sales of denim product. "While August results were disappointing, September is a critical month and drives our business in the third quarter," said Chairman Richard Crystal.

Wet Seal
WTSLA
shares gave back 9.6% after the company said that August same-store sales, or sales from stores open at least a year, gained 48%, while total sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 27 rose 15%.

Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc.
WLSN
shares lost 6.5% after the company said same-store sales fell 7.9% in August from the year earlier period. Sales totaled $19.1 million against $21.1 million in August 2004. "We anticipated that August would be a difficult month," said CEO Michael Searles. "Mall outerwear sales were sluggish due to extremely warm weather over most of the country during the first two weeks of the month."

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